Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom, right, of Finland, is beaten for a goal on a shot by San Jose Sharks’ Joe Pavelski as Sharks center Patrick Marleau (12) and Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon watch during the first period of an NHL hockey game on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Wild coach Mike Yeo took a deep breath. He was 25 minutes removed from the Wild’s third loss in four games and just a few minutes removed from a closed-door meeting that followed the team’s fifth straight road loss.

He was still red in the face following a game in which the Sharks took an early 3-0 lead thanks to six Wild penalties in the first two periods on their way to a 3-1 win over the Wild.

All three of the Sharks goals came on the power play.

“It must be nice to draw penalties like that,” Yeo said. “The other team goes stick on puck and you just kind of hold your head. Make sure you look at the first penalty, because to me, that’s embarrassing. I don’t know. I guess we’ve got to ask our players to embellish more.”

The Wild played a solid even-strength game but lost because penalties turned into Sharks power play goals.

And more than one of the penalties were questionable. On the first one — the one Yeo was particularly upset about — Justin Fontaine was called for a stick high on Brad Stuart as Stuart’s head snapped back. The Sharks scored the game’s first goal 40 seconds later.

At the end of the second period, Zenon Konpoka was given a four-minute double minor penalty for a high stick.

But the stick in question that connected with a San Jose player was the stick of Sharks teammate Freddie Hamilton.

The Sharks again scored on the ensuring power play to make it a 3-0 game early in the second period.

“I can’t remember the last time I stuck someone if ever in this league,” Konopka said. “I said (to the referee), ‘You’re making the wrong call, that wasn’t my stick.’ ”

The Wild allowed the three early power play goals and fell to 5-8-3 on the road as a result. They were whistled for seven infractions totaling 16 minutes. Part of that, Yeo said, was because of embellishments from the Sharks.

“We were obviously in the box too much and we didn’t finish well enough,” Yeo said. “It doesn’t matter how many times they dive, we’ve got to make sure we kill them off — or embellish, I shouldn’t say just dive.”

The loss was the Wild’s third in their past four games. They’ve been outscored by a combined 14-4 in their past five road games.

Following the game, they held a lengthy closed-door meeting.

“Obviously if we really knew (what’s wrong), we would’ve fixed it already,” Jason Pominville said. “I think it’s just playing on our toes. When we’re on our heels, we’re giving the other team time to make plays.”

Fontaine, who took the latest turn on the carousel that is the Wild’s second line, was whistled for two first-period penalties.

Joe Pavelski capitalized on the first Fontaine penalty with a shot from the point that made its way through traffic and behind goalie Niklas Backstrom for the game’s first goal less than six minutes in.

Ten minutes later, Tomas Hertl scored his rookie-leading 15th goal of the season to put the Sharks up 2-0.

The Wild had a few good chances, most notably a power play at the end of the second period. But they weren’t able to convert any of their chances other that a late third-period goal on a shot from the point by Jonas Brodin.

It was the eighth straight road game the Wild have given up the game’s first goal and the fifth straight road game they’ve gotten down 2-0.

“It’s unfortunate we put ourselves behind the eight ball,” Pominville said. “It’s frustrating for sure, but sometimes I think it’s the way you lose. You look at tonight and I just think our game was night and day compared to (Wednesday ) in Anaheim. Five-on-5 we were much better. When you give up three power play goals, it’s tough to win the game.”

With the loss, the Wild fell to 5-8-3 on the road. They have the fewest road wins in the Western Conference and sit at 18-11-5 overall.

The losses have come for a multitude of reasons.

They’ve come because of turnover troubles and a lack of offensive zone time.

Thursday, though, the latest loss came because the Wild couldn’t stay out of the penalty box early — even if they felt they didn’t belong there.

Chad Graff joined the Pioneer Press in April of 2013 -- long enough to cover three straight Wild playoff exits at the hands of the Blackhawks -- after working for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Boston Globe. He's lived in California and Texas, but most recently spent a decade in New Hampshire. He watched New England fans celebrate seven championships in his time there, yet somehow his only sports allegiance lies with Nebraska football.

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